puella magi madoka and FMA crossover
by hack the avian
Summary: a crossover between fullmetal alchemist and puella magi madoka
1. magical girls

the sound of heavy breathing and the small yet fast "tap tap tap" of shoes cracked the silence of the peaceful night in Central city, there darting along the sidewalk in a dash for her life was the shadow of a small girl, she had been running for hours not daring to look back at her pursuer for if she stopped for even a second it would all be over and her enemy would be upon her, her companions had told her she was to weak to fight this one but she hadn't listened, she wanted to prove she wasn't worthless, that she could actually do something. So she kept running in hopes of throwing the monster off, in a hopeless attempt to find some type of hope she shoved her hand into her small pocket and pulled out the small glowing gem encased with a silver colored metal, it's beautiful emerald color was beginning to dull to a detestable dark color that she wanted to describe as "puke green".

Her eyes began to sting as hot tears welled up in them, due to being so focused on her gem she tripped on a small crack in the sidewalk, stumbling she crashed into the ground, her gem flying about a foot away, still in her sights. She sobbed and a stream of tears began flowing from her puffy green eyes, she reached out for it, all the while the darkness slowly creeping out upon her from her peripheral vision "this isn't...This isn't how I wanted to die...This is wrong...All wrong" she sobbed still reaching out helplessly to grab at that now darkened gem which contained her only hope. A small cracking noise and the sight of a black sliver on the gem caused her eyes to grow wide with fear, with a sudden burst the gem shattered, pieces flying out then suspending in mid air before returning to each other and forming a new shape, a small dark gem in the shape of what looked to be a butterfly encased in a small metal, pointy looking case, the girl let out an ear splitting scream as she felt her body contort and change as well as the sharp and seemingly never ending pain, her mind became fuzzy then cleared and all that ran through her mind now where thoughts of despair.

She looked around weakly and could only see darkness and strange shapes floating about, she was falling, down down down down. She closed her eyes helplessly resigning herself to fate hearing the voices of those she had known before scream out "you're useless, dead weight, you'll never amount to anything, drop dead" where just some of the things she heard and as she fell she curled up into a fetal position hugging her knees "why? Why are you saying such things? This isn't fair, I became what I am now so you wouldn't call me such things anymore, wasn't that...Wasn't that my wish?" she asked the spreading darkness before fading out of consciousness, never to reawaken in her human state but to be reborn as a monster which was created to consume others and use their strength to cause even more pain and suffering "But such is the fate of these creature's...These magical girls" the small white cat like creature purred to itself as it watched from the top of a fence post, tail fluttering about behind it as it sat there, red eyes glowing ever so slightly due to the darkness of the street, it hopped down from the fence and waddled off down the street.

Sitting at a table in the military library a blonde boy with his golden eyes shoved in an alchemical text was attempting to find ways to restore his and his brothers bodies back to their original state, having lost his arm and leg as well as his younger brothers entire body in an attempt to resurrect their deceased mother, yet this new book from the Eastern command library that he hadn't read before wasn't helping any. The boy sighed and sat back in his chair, resting the book on the table he began thinking of what would happen if they never found a way to get back to their original bodies before snapping himself out of it again and returning to reading the book. His eyes widen and his body shakes from surprise when his younger brothers metal hands slam down on the table "Brother! You're not gonna believe it!" the metal boy said before apologizing for being so loud and scaring the elder "what is it Al?" the older asked looking to his younger yet significantly taller counterpart "another one's gone missing" Alphonse replied before sitting down and reaching into his empty suit, pulling out a newspaper which had an article stating "yet another young girl missing: Cecilia Bough".

Iit then went on to describe the girl and where she may have gone, the blonde boy read it over carefully and sighed before passing it back to Alphonse and laying his head back to look up at the ceiling "thats the fifth one this week" he replied, they're had been a series of disappearances, many suspected a serial rapist or murderer due to the strange fact that all of the victims had been young teenage girls. While missing person's werent really his jurisdiction, Edward Elric was still wondering what was happening and was on the verge of trying to join the case, he continually thought of his female friends and what if one of them was next and with that he stood up quickly, causing his younger brothers armor body to make a clanking noise as he jumped in surprise "C'mon Al, I wanna talk to Mustang for a minute" he proclaimed closing the book and pushing his chair in. Leaving the book on the table he and his brother walked to the colonels office. Alphonse was highly curious of his brothers behavior he usually did everything in his power to avoid the colonel.

The shorter knocked on the door firmly and a male voice from within answered "come in" the two walked inside, greeted by the familiar sight of all the office workers in their normal spots and the smirking colonel in his semi-plush chair which always sat behind his desk, he sat they're looking the two boys over with slight surprise, the woman lieutenant at his side watching with the same blank look as always. The colonel shifted in his seat and sat up straighter than before "did you need something fullmetal?" he asks raising an eyebrow, Edward nodded and walked over to the front of his desk "I don't know if you've heard about them or not yet but they're have been a lot of disa-" he's cut of by the matter of fact sounding voice of the colonel "disappearances? yes, I've heard, what about them?" he asked with slight curiosity.

Edward, now slightly annoyed at being cut off answered, not even attempting to hide the agitation in his voice, he raised a clenched fist then calmed himself down "I want in on the cases...If you wouldn't mind" with that most of the heads in the office turned to look at the boy who didn't seem to notice he was the center of attention at this point "why? Not that I have a problem with it but I'd still like to hear your reasoning" the colonel said feeling the air become a bit stale with anxiety "I keep hearing about the missing persons and I want them to stop as soon as possible, I wouldn't want one of my friends to go missing and if they did I'd like closure as soon as possible" the alchemist said bluntly and the intensity of the room released, all returning to their previous jobs. The black haired man nodded in understanding "alright, if that's what you'd like, I suppose I can arrange it" he then turned to the woman beside him "could you get me the details on all the missing persons cases from this last week, all the paperwork and such?" Riza nodded and quickly walked off to retrieve said papers.

Through the window of the office of the flame colonel watched the small white cat like beast, Listening intently to the conversation taking place "what an interesting development" it watched the two boys intently before hopping down from the window ledge, having been spotted by the one in the armor who seemed to alert the others to his presence as the other boy and colonel looked towards the window, just a little too late to see the beast. It landed on the ground in a somewhat graceful manner and looked about the grounds before walking towards the street, waddling down the crowded streets of central it caught the eye of many passersby who would stop to stare at it for a moment then continue on their way. It didn't seem to mind at all as it padded down the sidewalk, eventually catching up with the brown haired girl and climbing up her body in a matter of seconds only to stop on her shoulder, she looked down at the beast and smiled "ah, there you are kyubey where did you wander off to?" she asked smiling down at the fluffy white creature "nowhere in particular, have you tracked down that witch from the other night?" it replied with that same look on its emotionless face "not quite yet, but I'm getting close I can feel it!" she said grinning. Kyubey seemed to nod as they walked.

Having studied the details of each missing person they're was really nothing that could clue the boys in on what had happened, the only relatable thing in each case being the same age range and being of the female gender. The blonde boy sighed as he laid the papers down on the table where a plate of food also sat, he occasionally picked at the food as he reread the notes "I don't get it Al...They all seemed to be fine emotionally and had perfectly normal family lives, no enemies really...So why the hell are they all missing!?" he said maybe a little louder than he had intended to.

His brother sat across from him and felt bad having no clue how to go about this either "I really don't know brother...May I see the paper on Cecelia?" he reached out his metal hand which was graced with the presence of the stack of papers involving information on said girl. He looked them over for a moment "she's the most recent disappearance, she didn't come home from school that day...So we should check the route leading from her school to her home" Alphonse suggested. His brother nodded in agreement and both stood up, the elder leaving a few bills on the table to pay for the meal, walking out of the restaurant they walked in silence each thinking about different subjects as they made their way to the girls school.

Upon arriving they checked the place out, it was a fairly new building, no police or military involvement and all of the staff where clean. The two separated to look around the building, finding nothing they continued on their way searching the streets around the school and slowly they got closer to the girls house, along the way something dark clicked in Ed's mind, in a strange voice that didn't even sound like his yet he listened anyways "failure...You'll never find the girl...Or any of the others...You can't do anything to help...Nothing at all...You're useless, you'll never be able to do anything helpful...You'll always be the screw up, the one who failed the one who couldn't even get his little brother back to normal..." and for some reason Edward began believing these things and his mind began to fill with strange, despairing thoughts, as if he had no control of his body, he was being pulled towards a different street in central.

Alphonse noticed his brothers strange behavior, his shoulders seemed to slump forward ever so slightly like a zombie or something, his eyes where dark and clouded with something indescribable "b-brother?...What's wrong?" he called out following after his brother who had turned a corner and was walking in the totally opposite direction now "where are you going!?" he called out again, but Edward couldn't hear it, all he could hear were those cruel words over and over again and he began saying them aloud "i'm a screw up...A nothing...A worthless..." he went on and on, slowly Alphonse began to notice the space around them become distorted, strange objects and shapes floated around and they didn't seem to be in central anymore "maybe it'd be better if you just died...You should just die" the strange voice said to the blonde boy who repeated "I should just...Di-" he cut himself off and snapped out of it. His eyes widening with realization "what just...What just happened!?" he asked in a scarred manner "brother! Were are we!?" Alphonse asked equally as scared "I have no idea..." Edward replied looking around.

The scenery which surrounded the two now looked like some kind of oversized messed up dollhouse, there was a bright pink table which towered over them with chairs that matched their size, on the table was an oversized cup of tea, in the corner against a bright pink wall sat a large couch with white lacy coverings on the top and arm rests. On the ceiling was a gargantuan crystal chandelier that seemed to tremble and wave about in the still air, lastly in the other corner of the room was a pink bed which like everything else in the room seemed to be made for a giant.

Edward and Alphonse looked about the room, dumbstruck "this looks like some little girls room or something" edward said looking about, alphonse was about to agree with his brother when the sound of distorted laughing cut him off, it sounded much like a female childs voice mixed with many others of different tones. Suddenly the two were lifted up by the ribbon like strips which had wrapped around their torso's in a very tight manner, they struggled a bit only to feel the ribbons tighten, lifted up above the grotesquely pink tabletop the two looked down in horror to come face to face with what looked to be some kind of strange doll.

The creature's body seemed to be made up of many layers of different "girly" colored cloths, it had small legs which stuck out from the bottom of the many layered body and a rather small head which was black and had no facial features whatsoever, but two strands of golden ribbon cascaded to the ground from both sides of the creature's head to resemble hair. The two pink ribbons which had lifted the brothers up seemed to be arms. The laughter increased as they were lifted up and shook around a bit, it was clear the laughter was coming from this gigantic creature "W-WHAT IS THAT THING!?" Edward practically screamed.

It seemed to look up at him and the ribbon wrapped around his torso tightened significantly, now unable to move and barely able to breathe Edward was gasping for air "BROTHER!" Alphonse called out. Time seemed to go in slow motion as a large blast came from behind the creature which stumbled forward and fell from the table, holding both brothers high above its head, in mid-air both where released, Alphonse being too far away to catch his falling brother he reached out helplessly, there was a flash of black and before he knew it he was on the ground and standing in front of him was a young girl whose brown eyes seemed to gleam with happiness as she smiled at him, she walked over to Alphonse and placed his unconscious brother in his arms "that was a close one huh? Watch him for me for a sec 'kay?" she said before rushing back towards the creature who had landed on the ground and was now recovering and standing up seemed to tower over the girl and she stared up at it with a small smile before pulling what looked to be a small charm from her pocket "what are you-?! You'll get yourself killed!" Alphonse called from where he sat, holding his brother close, she turned to look back at him for a moment and smiled.

"nah, it'll be fine! After all it's my job to destroy witch's, cause i'm what you'd call...A magical girl" she winked and held up her charm which began to glow, in a flash of blue which was almost blinding her appearance had changed, her long silky brown hair was now adorned with a silver band that wrapped around her head and held a small teardrop shaped blue gem above her forehead with a veil that ran down the length of her hair and sparkled due to the small pearl like gems embedded in it, her outfit going from what had been a schoolgirls uniform to a long flowing blue-ish colored over coat which stopped just above her stomach in the front but went off in long flowing tendrils to the side and her sleeves puffed ever so slightly and ended with white lace, underneath the overcoat she wore a white lacy slip which covered her stomach and sank to just below her knees, her shoes now being small white heels with bows in the back.

Overall Alphonse could describe her appearance as well...Magical, she stood they're looking confident before stepping towards the creature which was now looking to her with its expressionless face, head tilted. More ribbons flowed from either side of its body and were now waving around like tentacles, Alphonse watched as each one flew towards the girl and crashed into the ground, leaving craters everywhere, she would dodge each one with skill. Then landing once more on the ground she quickly removed her silver band which began to glow and morphed into a long sword which had decorative swirls carved into it, a large blue jewel along with multiple pearls adorned the handle.

As one more ribbon crashed into the ground next to the girl she jumped away yet again but this time she used the ribbon as a platform and ran up it, jabbing the sword into it and running up towards the head of the creature, splitting said ribbon in half, it quickly turned to dust. Now she stood on the creature's shoulder, jabbing in all directions at a pace that made it almost impossible to keep up with human eyes. She seemed to be everywhere and nowhere all at once, faint shadowy images of her appearing everywhere around the creature only to disappear in a matter of seconds and reappear somewhere else, all the while swinging the sword.

At last she reappeared one last time in front of the creature, the sword began glowing and she lunged one last time straight at the creature. She sliced right through it, the entire body disappearing in a flash of white light. she stood behind were the creature had been and slowly from somewhere above, a small strange little black gem encased in a pointy looking metal cage like sphere floated onto the ground.

The girl turned and her entire appearance retorted to the schoolgirls uniform in a flash of blue, the space around the three of them slowly fading back to the street in central. She walked over to the small black orb and picked it up, turning it over in her hands, the small thing resembled a black butterfly. Shoving it in her pocket she walked over to the pair and smiled "you're safe now, please be more careful next time" she said giving a small wave before turning to walk down the street, Alphonse reached out towards her "wait! Please!" she looked back at him slightly surprised.

"yes? You're not hurt are you?" she asks looking a bit worried and walking back over to the metal boy "N-No but...Would you mind helping me with him?" Alphonse asks, she looks down at the unconscious boy and nods, grabbing him under his arms and lifting him up, fixing his position so that she was giving him a piggyback ride "Alright, lead the way".

The two walked in awkward silence, well awkward for Alphonse that is, the girl seemed completely unfazed and hummed a bit, smiling as she walked "e-excuse me miss...But what is your name?" Alphonse asks, the girl shifts Edward on her back and looks up at Alphonse smiling "my name is Felicia, Felicia Reimus but most people just call me Ray" she replied "ah I see, well then Ray, my names Alphonse Elric but everyone just calls me Al...A-Anyway! What just happened? What was that thing? And how did you do all that?" He asked in a hurry trying to get all the questions out of the way. She laughed a bit knowing how he was feeling "all right all right I'll answer all your questions as soon as we can sit down, why don't we go to my house? Its pretty close by" she suggests smiling up at the armored boy who nods in agreement "alright, that sounds good".

After a while of walking the somewhat strange looking threesome arrived at a small white house, it matched all of the other houses that lined the street and didn't look any different from the others, well at least not on the outside. The girl guided Alphonse to the front door then opened it using her foot with extreme ease "being lazy gives you ninja skills" she grins and kicks it open just enough to get inside. Alphonse walked inside right after her and looked around in awe, it looked so small from the outside, but inside it was like a mansion, there were small screen like things floating about above his head with images of strange looking creature's "ah, please watch your head, those are like screenshots of the witch's I've already defeated, I'm rather proud of them" she smiles and walks over to the large circular couch in the middle of the room and lays Edward down on it carefully. The couch was extremely large and made a huge circle around a small coffee table.

She smiled down at the blonde boy then looked back to the other and gestured for him to sit down "I'll get us some tea...Oh wait...I'm so sorry" she said quickly putting her hands over her mouth "w-wha-?" Alphonse asked shocked "you...You don't have a body, that was insensitive of me, please forgive me" she said bowing her head. This shocked Alphonse even more so, he hadn't told this girl about his body so how did she know!? She slowly raised her head and he could see the glint of tears in her eyes and began to panic "O-OH! I-Its fine really! Nothing to cry over!" he shook his hands in front of him as if it would stop her from crying, she sniffled a little then smiled "I really am sorry" she said standing up again and walking off into the house then returning with a small tray which had some snacks, tea cups, and a teapot with floral decoration. Alphonse was thoroughly confused at this point "please miss, would you answer my questions?" Alphonse insisted "I think it would be best for me to wait until you're brother awoke, and I'm just assuming you two are brothers" she replied fixing herself a cup of tea and taking a small sip, Alphonse thought about it then nodded in agreement.

The two sat in silence until Felicia broke the quietness "So alphonse while we wait, would you mind telling me who you are? And I would like to hear everything, including how you lost your body" she said looking at him over her tea cup which was pressed to her lips "h-how did you know?" he asks shifting his metal body ever so slightly but still making a fair amount of noise.

She waved her finger disapprovingly "I will tell you everything you need to know, once sleepy head here wakes back up, until then I'd like to hear your story" her eyes were now closed and she took another sip of her tea before setting the cup down on the tray and folding her hands in her lap, then with a small smile and tilt of her head she opened her eyes again and sighed softly "well...Its kind of a long story" Al said not so sure he should be telling this strange girl who he was.

"I do enjoy a good story and it looks like we have some time" she smiled nodding her head towards Edward " you're brother was attacked by a witch, this witch was very powerful and those ribbons had the ability to drain energy, so while you may not be feeling any fatigue because of your metal body, you're brother on the other hand has an organic body, therefore the witch drained his energy, he won't be waking up for quite sometime but don't worry he **will** wake up, I promise you that much" she said grabbing her cup again, Al sat there thinking it over 'she seems nice enough, and I don't see any ouroborus tattoo's on her, plus if she was a homunculi she'd live with the others right?' Al asked himself then nodded and sighed "alright, I'll tell you everything".

Having witnessed the entire street side battle Kyubey stalked off into the darkened city streets, they're had been many interesting developments and now two non-magical girls, not even girls, had found out about the world of monster fighting females with magical abilities, he wondered what events lied in the future due to this when suddenly he was lifted up by his back feet, dangling in mid air he looked around calmly "what manner of creature are you?" a voice rang out from the shadows "my name is kyubey" he replied "would you mind releasing me, I mean no harm" he said, slowly he was lowered back down to the ground "as if you could harm me anyways" they're where shadows everywhere, large red eyes and mouths full of shiny white pointy teeth floated about the darkness around Kyubey "and what might you be?" Kyubey asked in return, a small black haired boy stepped from the darkness "my name is Pride and I am the oldest of the homunculi, I can tell you're not human, that's the only reason i'm sharing this information with you" Pride said looking the small white beast over "indeed I am not, but I would think that you would know what I am" Kyubey replied and pride raised a suspicious eyebrow "please...Enlighten me...".

After pouring herself a sixth cup of tea Felicia sighed contently and smiled at the armored boy "I see, so you tried to bring your mother back and ended up losing your body in the process" Alphonse nodded, having just told this girl everything he felt a bit more at ease around her and she seemed very understanding, constantly smiling at him from where she sat he couldn't help but feel slightly...At home. She set her cup down "I completely understand why you'd try that and I think its only made you a stronger person, I hope you and your brother get your bodies back" with that the sleeping lump that was Edward Elric shifted dramatically and stretched his arms up as he yawned "mornin' Al, What say you we go to the library and harass the librarian again today?" he asked rubbing his eyes which widened in surprise when he saw where he was "were are we?! Who are you!? What happened!?" he asks jumping up and looking around "calm yourself Edward dear" Felicia said calmly standing up and pushing him by his shoulder back down on to the couch then returning to her spot on the couch "d-dear?! Who's this!?" he shouted again "well you see-" Felicia cuts Alphonse off "my name is Felicia Reimus but you may call me Ray if you'd like" she answered smiling sweetly and gestured to the tray "tea?" Edward nodded hesitantly "uh...Sure" she quickly fixed him a cup and held it out to him, he took it lightly trying to be polite and took a sip "holy crap! Thats good tea!" he yelped, slugging the rest of it. Felicia giggled a bit and alphonse sighed "brother..." he said exasperated, Edward coughed a bit then cleared his throat "t-thank you" he said getting a little red faced, she nodded and grabbed the teapot pouring a little more into his cup "now that you're awake I can explain all that happened to you tonight" she said smiling and placing the teapot down, clearing her throat she sighed then sat straight up "My name is Felicia Reimus, I've already told you that but I will say it one more time for good measure, now I am what you'd call a magical girl-" Alphonse's hand had slowly rose from its sitting position and she paused for a moment "please hold all questions until the end of the explanation" with that his hand sank back down again.

"as you know from your experiences in the 5th laboratory, which Alphonse so kindly explained to me, you're military does some pretty messed up experiments, while attempting to create philosopher stones you're military created a creature named Kyubey, his main job was to find those who were "compatible", or in other words had the statistics needed for transformation, in doing so Kyubey takes the soul of said person and removes it from their body" she pauses briefly and reaches into her pocket to grab the small gem charm Alphonse had seen earlier.

"this is called a soul gem, this is the solidified version of a human soul, my soul. Kyubey takes the soul of a person and transforms it into this, now a soul gem is basically a philosophers stone but made of only one person's soul, only this one soul has been given special abilities and fortified so that it is just as strong as an actual philosophers stone. Now in this compact compartment its power grants the person the ability to transform as you saw me do earlier Alphonse, and fight witches, now witches where experiments also created by your government that went wrong and many have escaped into the outside world, most are invisible to the human eye unless their inside their "labyrinth" which was the strange place you saw earlier. Not only can witchs can attack and kill humans but they can also plant thoughts of despair and estrangement in ones mind just like what had been done to you Edward. Only those with the abilities given by Kyubey or have had their souls turned into soul gems have the power to fight witches, no amount of alchemy can destroy them" she said pausing shortly.

"so i could have my soul turned into one of these soul gem things?" Edward asked quickly "ah, no I was just getting to that, only those that are "compatible" can have their souls transformed and sadly the only people "compatible" are young females in their second stage of development that is why we are called magical girls because only we can do what we do, they're are no magical boys" she giggles a little then continues.

"but you wouldn't want to be one anyway Edward, you see to turn your soul into a soul gem kyubey removes your soul from your body, meaning you're body is only an empty shell and if you're soul gem and body separate over a hundred meters you lose control of your body and eventually die. moving on, if you're gem shatters you die and if you continually use your abilities against witches you're soul gem starts to become tainted, and if it becomes to tainted it will shatter and you will die that is why-" she reaches into her pocket again and pulls out the small dark gem in its metal orb "we have these, this is called a grief seed, now watch what happens" she says holding the grief seed up to her soul gem.

The two watch in awe as some type of dark matter flows from the soul gem into the grief seed, now the gem begins to glow brightly again "and there, its all better for now, the grief seed is usable once or twice more but for now I don't need it and I don't have to worry about my soul gem shattering, we get grief seeds by defeating witch's, so therefore we hunt witches to survive, what attacked you earlier today was a witch, I've been tracking that one down for a while now" she smiled and placed the grief seed in her pocket then grabbed the soul gem and held it tightly until it glowed and morphed into a ring which she placed on her index finger a small diamond shape blue mark appeared on her finger nail.

"so you're body is empty?" Alphonse asks "in a way, yes our souls are no longer connected to our bodies but our bodies still have organs and such in them, this way we can't feel pain when we fight, or at least, not as much pain as we would if our souls where inside of our bodies" Edward felt something connect in his mind and grabbed the papers about the missing people from his pocket and held them out to Felicia "are any of these girls like you?...Y-You know, magical girls or whatever?" he asked quickly.

She grabbed the papers from him and looked through them intently then handed them back to him and nodded "each of those girls are-...Well...Where magical girls and each one of them recently died at the hands of a witch" felicia confirmed, and Edward slumped backwards against the couch with a strained groan "what's wrong? do you not believe me?" she asked tilting her head "no its not that it's just...You're sure their all dead?" he asked not sitting back up "yes, there's been an increase in witches lately and not only that but we can sense each others presences, a lot of magical girls have been disappearing lately and its no doubt because of the witch population increasing, and I knew each of these girls very well, I can confirm, they are indeed dead" Felicia said sighing and Edward sat up again looking at her with an almost angry look.

"why didn't you tell anyone!? We could have helped!" he yelled, Felicia reached down and grabbed her tea cup taking another sip of tea before looking back at him with an equally angry look, but because he had only seen her smiling this new angry face scared him and even Al who wasn't even the one being looked at was scared at this point "If I had told anyone, do you really think anyone would believe me? Also we are forbidden from telling anyone what's going on, unless they become involved or are attacked by a witch then we are permitted to inform them of what goes on in this shadow world. If we tell someone under unpermitted circumstances then the magical girl who 'spilled the beans' and the person(s) who were told are to be erased" Felicia said returning to her calm state and taking another sip of her tea "E-Erased?" Edward swallowed nervously.

"yes, all records of the person and person in question are disposed of, in other words you would be erased from history and soon no one would even remember you existed" she answered in the same calm matter "what about the bodies of those girls? Where did they go?" Alphonse asked hoping for an answer that wasn't as dark "if you die in a labyrinth while fighting a witch you're body disappears with it and is absorbed by the witch, which only strengthens them" she says looking to Alphonse who sighs.

"witches kill people and it is the duty of magical girls to kill witches before anyone gets hurt, with kyubey's help we are able to do so" she explains "well it sounds like a pretty crappy deal, I mean you get a life of never ending fighting and death all for what?" Edward asks "ah well for one you get the satisfaction of knowing you're saving other's lives but if you want something monetary then let me tell you the good part of being a magical girl. Kyubey, is a creature made up entirely of philosopher stones and their matter, he is able to make anything he wants out of anything so when he finds you and tells you he wants you to become a magical girl he grants you one wish and only one, in exchange for that you become a magical girl and fight witches" Felicia says smiling at the blonde boy.

"a wish huh? So he uses his powers to transmute whatever you've asked for?" Edward questions in slight confusion "indeed, anything you can dream of, he can grant it, even if you wish for some type of special ability, he can add that power into your soul gem" this catches Alphonse's attention and he quickly asks "so we could wish to get our bodies back?" Felicia turns to him and nods, both brothers look to one another hopefully "except you two can't become magical girls due to you both being male, however if you had a female friend who was compatible and was willing to give up her humanity in order to help you then she could wish for your bodies to be returned to their original state" taking another sip of her tea Felicia notices that both of them seem to slump forward in defeat and she felt a little bad for dashing their hopes "I do wish I could do something to help you two, but I've already made my wish, a very long time ago in fact" Alphonse looked up for a moment "would you mind telling us what you wished for?" he asked, Felicia's grip on her tea cup tightened and she set it down quickly "it would be better...If I didn't, I am quite sorry but No..." she replied looking down at the tray in a sad manner "oh its okay! I was just wondering!" he added quickly.

She smiled at him and stood up "I suppose you would be curious though so its only natural you'd ask" she slipped her ring off for a moment and it morphed back into a soul gem, it began glowing a bit and suddenly another one of the floating screens popped out of it, this one showing a picture of the doll like witch Felicia had fought earlier, it levitated up to join the others.

They're where too many to count floating up there "if you'd like, you two may stay here tonight it's already dark out and besides, I have plenty of guest rooms set up" felicia commented, Edward thought it over and to get to the school they had, had to travel a pretty long ways from where they had been staying the night before so he nodded "if we were to leave now we'd get there by sun up and then we wouldn't have time to sleep so We'll take you up on that offer" he grinned standing up, Felicia smiled and walked over to Alphonse, extending a hand to help him up.

After helping Alphonse up she waved for them to follow her as she walked away from the couch and into the main hallway of the house, there were many doors and she led them to the first one on the right side of the hall, opening the door for them she said "here is your room, theres a small dresser in here that should have some shorts and a T-shirt for you to wear as night clothes, sleep well you two" with that she turned from them and walked down the long hall to the 4th door on the left and walked inside. The two boys walked in quietly feeling that if they were to make any noise at all they would be in trouble.

Edward slipped his jacket and shoes off before walking over to said dresser and pulling out the blue basketball type shorts and white T-shirt. He stripped quickly and put them on, they fit very well and smelt good to, like some type of soap or something. Which only aided in making him tired yet again even after being unconscious for so long. he walked over to the bed and layed down on it, it was extremely plush and comfortable, Alphonse sat against the wall next to the bed "hey brother?" Alphonse asked quietly "yeah Al?" Edward responded "what are we gonna tell the colonel about those girls?" he asked his brother who was drifting in and out of sleep "I...I dunno Al...I guess we'll...Just ask to be written off of the case and eventually they'll become a bunch of cold cases...After all if we say anything to anyone about this we could be...E-Erased" Edward said flipping onto his side and closing his eyes "night Al" he managed to say before falling asleep "goodnight Brother".

"I must say, you are indeed an interesting little creature, kyubey, wasn't it?" the man known as father asked the small white beast who stood before him "yes sir, and I find you interesting as well, never had I suspected such a race of intelligent beings with such a plot in mind for this country to living underneath central and be controlling said country" Kyubey responded bluntly, the man laughed "and I had never suspected humans would create such an powerful and intellectual beast such as yourself, from what you just told me I think that these 'witch" creature's would be very useful in my plans...Would you consider teaming up with me and my children? Together we could take over this country and create the largest philosopher stone in existence" Father explained, the incubator known as kyubey's eyes seemed to shine with anticipation "of course, that sounds like an interesting experiment, I will control the witches from this point forward to help you with your plans and if needed, I will create more" Kyubey replied before climbing up the many pipes that lead to father's chair and climbing onto the "man's" shoulder. WIth that it was settled, Kyubey and the homunculi had joined forces and now all hell was about to brake lose.


	2. holy mother

Silence rang throughout the house, it was almost scary how quiet everything was. Alphonse was sure he was the only one still awake but he couldn't help it, this metal body of his wouldn't allow him the sleep he so desperately missed. He sat against the wall near the door with his knees pressed up to his metal chest, but it was thanks to the quietness that he was able to hear the faint sound of a record player, he stood up and opened the door quietly so as not to wake up his brother before walking down the hall, following the sound of a violin and the slight scratching sound a record player made as the needle ran along the disk, he followed the music to the 3rd door on the left and cracked the door open ever so slightly, sitting in a chair with a cup of tea and reading glasses on sat Felicia, her nose stuck in what looked to be a fantasy novel. Although he tried his best to be quite, the small creak the door made alerted her to his presence, looking surprised at first then smiling softly she spoke "you don't have to stand out they're Alphonse, come in and sit with me".

Alphonse jumped a bit feeling slightly ashamed of being caught then walked in sheepishly and closed the door behind him, Felicia gestured to the identical chair across from hers, they're being another small coffee table in the middle of the two. As Alphonse walked over to sit he looked around the room, it was one of the largest home library's he had ever seen, with row upon row of books ranging from history books to sci-fi novels, the Library seemed to stretch up the walls and go on forever, long ladders on wheels lined the walls which never seemed to reach the ceiling. Once he sat down she adjusted her glasses a bit and smiled "You're body doesn't allow you to sleep does it?" she asked not dodging and sensitive subjects "ah well...No it doesn't...What about you? Why aren't you asleep?" he asked in return and she set her book down for a moment "I'm used to hunting witches at night so I usually sleep during the day, but I didn't want to keep you two up all night so I didn't tell you...Not only that but i'm a lot like you Alphonse, due to my body being and empty shell and my soul is separated I don't sleep no matter how much I want to" she reached down and picked up her cup of tea, taking a sip then placing it back on the coffee table. Alphonse was slightly surprised by this, he hadn't met anyone else who wasn't able to sleep before and for some reason it made him a bit happy to know he wasn't alone.

"I see...May I ask what book you're reading?" Felicia nodded before explaining "this book is an old classic and favorite of mine 'Romeo and Juliet' call me girly but I do enjoy the book...No matter how hard the two try to be together they only end up making things worse for each other, and in the end when they both die they make everyone around them realize that what they've been fighting over for so long was stupid and if they had just stopped and talked sensibly for a moment all the tragedy could have been avoided...But I think my favorite part is at the end when the two get statues of themselves made so that everyone can remember them and what happened, their so lucky" she sighed contently, Alphonse pondered this for a moment then spoke up "if anything I would have said they were unlucky...But you say the opposite...Why?" Felicia looked at him in surprise for a moment then smiled, although she was smiling she seemed sad "For the fate of all magical girls is to die in labyrinths were their bodies will cease to exist and disappear forever, not only that but no one except other magical girls know what's happening, no one knows how hard we fight to keep them safe, there is no gratitude, no glory, and in the end you just become a missing person case for the police and eventually a cold case soon to be forgotten by everyone, nothing but a faded memory in the minds of other magical girls who will eventually die themselves or forget...Its not fun...Being a magical girl...Thats why those two are lucky, they have their statues up in the middle of town for all to see and when people see those statutes they remember the star crossed lovers and all that happened because of them...They will always be remembered even if their story ended in tragedy...It's a tragedy that no one will ever forget".

she answered bluntly before taking another sip of her tea "this law applies to myself as well, eventually I will be killed by a witch and disappear forever, no one will remember me...But you know...I'm fine with that, at least I will die knowing I saved a few people, like you and your brother...I'm so glad I got to save the two of you" she set the cup down again, how could she have said all that with the same smile on her face? Wasn't she upset? Didn't it make her want to cry? Sure Alphonse had it bad but his situation could still be helped, he had friends and family who knew him and would remember him but what Felicia just said was true, she would most likely die in a labyrinth and disappear and if what she had told them about people being erased because they found out about magical girls then- " You're wrong!" Alphonse said stubbornly, standing up from his chair "I won't forget you, neither will brother...You saved our lives, how could we ever forget you?...You have my gratitude and brothers as well...I consider you a friend and I don't forget my friends...**Ever**".

Not realizing he was being a bit loud,he sat back down quickly, it was quiet again and Felicia's head was hung down, her shoulders seemed to twitch a bit and Alphonse could make out the sound of faint sobbing. He held his hands up quickly and began to panic "I-I'm sorry! Please don't cry! I didn't mean to upset you!" as he was panicking Felicia slowly looked up, she was smiling and a few tears ran down her cheeks "No...Its not that...I should be the one apologizing, i'm just...So happy to hear that...No one's ever said anything like that to me...Thank you Alphonse..." she said in between slight hiccups, Alphonse could feel his nonexistent face getting very hot and if armor could blush then it'd certainly be happening now.

"n-no problem" he replied, rubbing the back of his metal head out of nervous habit "ah, look at me, I shouldn't be crying" she said quietly, wiping her face off with her nightgown sleeve. Alphonse watched her for a moment then sighed happily "would you mind...Reading that book to me? I've never read it before but I heard it was very good, I'd appreciate it if you would" Alphonse gestured to 'Romeo and Juliet' which rested on Felicia's lap, she looked at him in surprise then nodded and picked up the book "I would love to...Chapter one-" she cleared her throat and began reading the book in a semi-quiet tone. From outside the door Edward stood up from his crouched position and stretched a little, having heard the entirety of the conversation due to having been woken up when Al left he felt extremely proud of his little brother and was seriously debating whether or not to go in there and pat him on the back then sit down and listen to 'story time' as well. Deciding he did need his sleep for their trip to Lior tomorrow and that he should leave those two alone for now he stumbled back to the guest room sleepily and with a yawn, laid down on the bed and fell back asleep.

Light shot through the lone window in the guest room, slowly causing the blonde boy to wake up although his body seemed against it due to his arms giving out for a moment and making him fall back down on the plush bed. He sighed and sat up with ease this time, dangling his feet over the side of the bed, he sat there and looked from the metal one to the flesh one for a moment. There had been hints that Lior would hold the key to returning the boys bodies to normal and so the two had bought tickets for today. Glancing around the room, Alphonse was nowhere to be found, he stood up and walked to the door, opening it and looking out into the hallway, Edward jolted a little when a loud voice rang from down the hall "NO NOT MERCUTIO! WHY TYBALT WHY!?".

Edward rushed down the hall to find the two in the same position as last night but Alphonse seemed to be upset and was holding his head in his hands "Alphonse, this is a tragedy novel after all...You should expect to see quite a bit of death" Felicia explained, sitting there awkwardly with the book now resting on her lap "b-but why mercutio? He didn't do anything!" Edward sighed before smiling and leaning up against the door frame and watching the two as Felicia tried to console Alphonse over the death of the fictional character in question.

After a while Felicia was finally able to calm Alphonse down, Edward had gotten himself dressed in his usual attire and walked out into the living room of floating screens were both Felicia and Alphonse sat "Alright, I'm ready...What about you Al?" he asked his younger brother who looked over to him and nodded "yes I'm ready" Alphonse stood up "leaving already you two?" felicia questioned standing as well "yeah, we have a train to Lior to catch, they're may be something they're to help us get our bodies back" Edward said smiling a bit "thank you for everything Felicia, I promise we'll come back once we're done with our mission out in Lior" Alphonse input quickly. Edward nodded agreeing with his brother, Felicia walked over to Al holding the novel the two had spent all night reading and grabbed his large metal hand, placing the book in said hands she smiled up at him "alright, I'll be looking forward to your return...Also please take this with you, you can read it on the train ride and perhaps your brother would like to read it as well" Alphonse grasped the book lightly and nodded "ah I almost forgot, now that you two have been attacked by a witch, you will be prone to more attacks, you said you're going to Lior correct?" she asked quickly while walking over to the coffee table and grabbing a small slip of paper and pen then writing a quick note. Finishing the note with a small flick of her hand she walked back over to the two and placed the not in edwards flesh hand "Theres a strong "veteran magical girl" out in Lior named Ryoko Nishimura, seek her out and give her this...She will help you if any witches come to call upon you while you're in Lior" Edward gripped the note and placed it in his pocket before smiling back at Felicia "Alright sounds good" the three walked to the door, Felicia opened it and stood outside as they passed through the door.

Felicia stopped them for a moment and first stood in front of Edward, being a bit taller than him she leaned down and kissed his forehead lightly before walking over to Al and gesturing for him to lean down before doing the same to his metal forehead. With that she walked back to the door and gave a small wave "take care you two, I'll see you in a while" Edward whose face had changed color to a light pink nodded and turned around quickly feeling extremely flustered "yeah yeah, C-C'mon Al!" he said loudly while walking down the sidewalk towards the train station in a quick manner. Alphonse sighed a bit then waved at Felicia before rushing after his brother.

Felicia laughed a little and watched as the two rushed off down the street, she had told the two she'd see them again but every magical girl knows that the next fight may be their last, she could only pray she'd stay alive long enough to meet the two again but with each passing day the witches had seemed to be growing stronger and stronger and had begun growing in number, all she could do now was pray.

The two boys sat on the train watching the scenery pass by at a fast rate, Edward rested his head on his hand as he looked out the window. he found all this 'magical girl' stuff very confusing and very strange, not even sure if he truly believed it...But how couldn't he believe it? He had been attacked by a witch and saved by a magical girl, of course he hadn't actually seen the girl perform anything magical except when she made that tea which in his opinion deserved some kind of national award "nation's best tea huh?" he chuckled to himself, yet Alphonse's description of what happened seemed to vivid to be imagined and if he was just trying to pull some kind of sick joke on him he did a pretty damn good job.

Snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of papers rustling he looked up to see Alphonse flipping through the pages of the book Felicia had given him "you really like that book huh?" he asked smiling at his younger counterpart "yes, its much different from the alchemy books i'm used to reading...Its a fun alternative" Edward had always been more into the scientific books so he had never really read anything but the factual novels, turning his head to look back out the window for a moment he sighed then looked back to his brother "do you...I mean, would you mind reading that book to me? It sounds interesting" Alphonse sat up to look at his brother then nodded "not at all!" and so the two spent the rest of the train ride reading the book in question.

"well I'm just sayin' Al that was a crappy way to end a book and all over some stupid fight" was all Edward had to say as the two sat at the counter of the small roadside restaurant in the city of Lior. There was a small radio on a ledge like shelf that ran along the roof, it continually picked up some type of sermon with a large amount of static "so what are you guys like street performers or something?" asked the man running the restaurant and with that most of the orange flavored drink edward had been indulging in shot out of the drink or out of his nose when he began to cough from the shock of being asked that question "do we look like street performers to you!?" he asked in return while cleaning the liquid off of himself "yeah thats why I asked" the middle age man said bluntly, Edward hopped off of the stool he was sitting on "C'mon Al lets get out of here" as alphonse stood up his head rammed into the ledge, sending the small radio crashing down onto the ground only to shatter into many **many** pieces. The man groaned and gestured to the radio "hey hey you didn't have to smash my radio" Alphonse apologized before Edward put in quickly "don't worry we'll fix it" Alphonse pulled out a piece of chalk and drew a small transmutation circle around the broken radio while Edward and the man talked "hows that its smashed to hell!" quickly Alphonse performed the transmutation and the radio was fixed in a matter of seconds "h-how did you-?" the old man asked in awe "we're alchemists".

Edward, clothes now thoroughly ripped, walked past Rose who had sunk down onto her knees and down the stone steps of the now broken down church, they had uncovered the false priests true intentions and found that the philosophers stone he had been using was indeed a fake. Now as Rose sat there tears streaming down her face, heart broken and hope gone they're seemed to be no point in living for her. Thats when **it** appeared before her "hi there, my names kyubey...You seem like you're having a rough time" Rose stared at the small white beast not truly caring anymore "perhaps you'd like my help...i can grant you one wish, anything you desire but in return you have to...Become a magical girl!".

Alphonse and his brother stalked the streets of Lior, looking for a place to stay seeing as how they'd missed the train back to central, Edward groaned "after all that, and it was just a fluke..." Alphonse sighed behind him then remembered the note Felicia had given him "brother, we have to find that Ryoko girl remember?" he reminded and Edward turned to look at him "oh yeah, what was her full name again?" Alphonse read the name on the note quickly before repeating it to Alphonse "Ryoko Nishimura" he said, reading the note over having not truly read the entire thing yet, it was a simple letter that explained their situation and asked her how she was "you rang?" both of the boys jumped at the new voice, Edward turned back around to meet eyes, well...Eyes and one eye with a girl. She looked them over for a moment "I am Ryoko Nishimura, Felicia recently called me and informed me of your situation but I assume that letter is from her as well?" the young woman asked looking the two over.

Her long silver hair tied into a ponytail that ran down her back to her hip area, small bits hung in her face, specifically over her black eye-patch which had a small yet very detailed rose sewed in golden thread on it. Her one visible eye was bright blue and criticizing, you could say she was very...Mature looking. She wore a sleeveless red floral kimono like dress which had a large slit on the left side and exposed most of her left leg, her arms were crossed under her **large** chest. Her left leg had a small black lacy band on her upper thigh and her black heels made a sharp clicking noise as she walked closer to the two, around her neck was a fairly large white snake with red eyes which seemed to be watching the two boys intently "y-yes ma'am" Alphonse said holding the note out to her, she walked over to him and snatched it away, looking it over with a somewhat annoyed look before shoving it down the small heart shaped hole at the top of her kimono "come with me" she said rather quickly before turning from the two and walking down the sidewalk, the snake on her shoulders turned and kept an eye on the two as they walked.

The two followed without question and stayed silent the entire time they walked, afraid of angering this cold and somewhat already angry seeming young woman, eventually they came upon a small looking house with a light red exterior, it looked like one of those old chinese palaces just a little smaller, Ryoko walked up to the front door and allowed the two in "you two may stay here tonight, third door on the right as you walk down the hallway, sadly I will not be joining you I hunt at night" she said turning to close the door and leave but Alphonse spoke up before she could "would you mind if we came with you?"

Edward looked at his brother nervously "we?! I never said I wanted to go!" Alphonse looked down at his brother and sighed "I mean may I come along?" Ryoko looked at the two for a moment before sighing then getting an extremely serious look on her face which scared both of the boys "No, I don't take people around for joy rides, witch hunting is serious business and extremely dangerous, if I were to take you with me you could end up dying and I will not allow that to happen...Now if you'll excuse me i have work to do" with that she practically slammed the door causing the two to jump yet again. Alphonse looked at Edward again "she's very pretty but...She scares me" Edward laughed a little before nodding in agreement "yeah but thats how most women are...pretty yet scary".

Ryoko rushed down the street, bright red soul gem in hand, she was surprised she had picked up a witch's trail so early off into the night. She followed it to the front of the church, they're stamped onto the front of one of the church pillars was a witches mark signalling that a labyrinth could be opened there. She walked over to the pillar quickly "you ready Pico?" she asked the small reptile on her shoulder who seemed to nod "alright then" she held the gem up to the mark and slowly the space around her became distorted.

The labyrinth that had opened seemed to be a church full of pews, they're where faceless beings sitting in the pews not bothering to look at Ryoko who quietly walked down the middle of the pews, in the center of the church there was a large platform where it seemed a statue should be, she walked closer to the platform. In a sudden burst of light and smoke the witch appeared towering over Ryoko, the screams and wails of a female voice rang throughout the church and Ryoko braced herself as she looked the witch over.

It seemed to float above the platform with gigantic white wings which looked like they were cut from cloth, it looked as if it were wearing some kind of large white dress which fluttered about as it floated. Its head looked like that of a dolls except it had no face and instead had the large black outline of a cross stamped on it. It seemed to have hair, the front part being a light pink color and the back being long flowing black. Runes appeared over the top of its head as it floated above the platform, they read 'holy mother'.

Ryoko gripped her soul gem tightly, her entire body glowed as she transformed. Her kimono becoming shorter and ending right above her knees, the sudden appearance of black shorts under her kimono kept her from being any more exposed than she already was. her heels changed into combat like boots with cleats on the bottoms, cut off sleeves appeared on her arms and her hair was now tied up in two buns with long black flowing ribbons. Eyepatch gone her left and strangely colored red eye was now visible, she reached behind her and pulled out her two large red fans, opening them quickly and taking an offensive position "Pico!" she shouted, alerting the small snake who slithered down to the ground before transforming himself and becoming much larger.

Taking on a form that resembled much that of an ancient chinese dragon, the witch seemed to scream and the white faceless beings who sat in the pews rose up from their seats before turning to Ryoko and slowly walking towards her. Pico quickly slithered through the pews, devouring and thrashing the beings about, Ryoko rushed towards the witch and sent her fans flying, in mid-air their fabric became hard metal and slashed the witch before returning to Ryoko's hands.

The witch screamed again, the cuts that had been inflicted were glowing a bright red color, glowing white crosses seemed to rise up from behind it as it screeched yet again, the crosses came crashing down towards Ryoko like heat seeking missiles, she dodged each of them by jumping and flipping backwards. Two long white strands of fluttering fabric which Ryoko assumed where the witch's arms came floating down and picked up a handful of the white beings who squirmed about in her hand, she bought them up to her face, a large black line formed on her face where her mouth should have been before turning into a gaping hole and sucking the white beings in. The cuts from Ryoko's fans immediately healed "how sick...The holy mother preys on her own followers to keep herself alive..." Ryoko mumbled. Were had this witch come from?

It was strong and most witches had to grow to strengths like this by eating humans, yet this one was so strong that it would have been impossible to hide from Ryoko as it grew so that meant it had to have just appeared from nowhere. This was all highly confusing to Ryoko who forgot she was in the middle of a battle for a moment and was nearly hit by another large white cross missile, she flipped back just in time. Pico had positioned himself under her and she used his back as a platform as she jumped from his back to lunge at the witch, slicing it here and they're with her metal fans. It screeched again and sent more of those damned cross missiles towards her, she ran up its sides using her cleats which dug into the witches skin allowing her to climb up its side with ease.

As soon as she reached the witches face she took her fans and swung them one last time, the fans sliced the entire head off the witch, Ryoko flipped backwards and fell towards the ground only to be caught by Pico. The fans returned to Ryoko who quickly put them away, the church labyrinth around them seeming to crumble before melting away along with the beheaded body of the witch. Her soul gem had darkened a bit but still glowed as she transformed back to her normal attire and walked over to where the witches body had been followed by her slithering companion, a grief seed slowly floated down and landed in her outstretched hand. The small black gem on the inside of the metal cage resembled a rose.

Kyubey watched from the top of the broken down church and sighed "poor Rose, she had been a very strong magical girl and I was so looking forward to seeing her fight some more" it said before hopping off of the building. Rose had agreed to become a magical girl and in turn had her wish granted, yet she was so saddened by the loss of her only hope "cornello" that her soul gem began darkening almost immediately, she had only gotten to dispose of two witches before her soul gem turned completely black and she herself became a witch.

Ryoko entered her house quietly, slipping off her shoes. She walked over to the small couch and sat down, laying her head back, after the 'holy mother' Ryoko had defeated three other witches and a familiar, there had been a strange increase in witches lately, she had been meaning to speak with Felicia about it sometime ((the two being extremely close friends and an old magical girl duo)) . She jumped a bit when she heard footsteps from the guest room, she turned her head to see Alphonse "oh, sorry I heard you come in and thought I should come check on you" he said, quickly trying to explain himself "thats fine...Why are you still-?...Oh...Never mind" she stopped herself quickly but Alphonse knew what she was about to ask.

Why wasn't he asleep yet? He assumed she stopped herself because she could sense what Felicia had sensed before, that he was just a soul bound to armor and that his body wouldn't allow him to rest.

He walked over to the couch and sat next to her "how was hunting?" he asked quietly, she grunted something along the lines of "fine" and kept her head laid back, eyes now closed. Pico slithered off of her shoulder and onto the ground before slithering to some other place in the house, Alphonse looked around the house for a moment then back at Ryoko, this time he noticed the long gash on her arm which was bleeding profusely.

"Y-You're bleeding! Here let me-" he yelped jumping up, Ryoko held one hand up in protest before reaching into her pocket and pulling out her soul gem, she held it up to the wound and it began glowing, the wound slowly closed, leaving only a small amount of blood on her arm, the soul gems color had darkened a bit. Ryoko put the gem back in her pocket and sat up "you needn't worry about me, I can take care of myself...What was your name again?" Alphonse sat back down looking her arm over for a minute "A-Alphonse, Alphonse Elric...The other boy with me is my brother Edward Elric" he explained.

Ryoko had heard those names before, the state alchemist and his little brother, also the two who had exposed cornello that very same day "ah I see, As you already know my name is Ryoko Nishimura, the small snake who was here a few minutes ago is named Pico, he's my witch hunting companion" she held out a hand which Alphonse hesitantly took and shook for a second "thank you for allowing us to stay here with you" Alphonse said quietly "there's no need for gratitude, i'm just doing my job" she said bluntly sitting back again.

Alphonse stared at the ground for a moment in an awkward manner, unsure of what to say next "i'm...Sorry...if i'm not as nice as you were expecting or if I...Scare you, Its just...Hard for me to show emotion..." Ryoko said crossing her arms, Alphonse held his hands up and began to panic "n-no I didn't-! I'm not scared of you!" he yelped, Ryoko looked at him and chuckled a little which caught Alphonse off guard. She stopped after a moment and gave him a small smile "its alright, most people are...I'll admit i'm not the nicest person out there but there are those even more scary than I am" she said smiling at him ever so slightly.

Alphonse nodded in agreement thinking of how scary winry got when she was angry "Oh I know that, you should meet our friend Winry when she gets mad, she's about the scariest thing on the planet" Ryoko laughed quietly "on the planet huh? I doubt that...There's much scarier things out they're than people" Alphonse realized what he said must have sounded pretty stupid, especially to someone who fought invisible monsters for a living and could die at any time "s-sorry" he apologized, Ryoko turned to him panicking a bit herself "n-no need to be sorry about anything!" she said quickly.

Seeing her freak out a little made him laugh quietly, she turned a bit red and scoffed before standing up "Felicia told me you like to read" Alphonse looked up at her and nodded "yes, she gave me a book and brother and I really enjoyed it...Well everything except the ending, brother said it was crappy" Ryoko looked down at him and raised an eyebrow "which book?" Alphonse took the novel from inside his armor and handed it to Ryoko "ah Romeo and Juliet...So you liked this book then?" Alphonse nodded again as she handed it back to him, he put it away quickly "come with me" she said walking towards the hallway.

Alphonse stood up and trailed after her, she walked down the hallway to a door on the left, her house had many rooms just like felicia's. She held the door open for him, he stepped in to find a library almost identical to Felicia's "take your pick" Alphonse turned to her in surprise "y-you mean-?" she cut him off with a nod and a small smile "any books you want, you can have them".

Alphonse had spent the entire night looking through the books with Ryoko who didn't seem to mind, it was around 7:00 in the morning now when a loud high pitched scream ((which sounded much like a girl)) came from the guest room, both Ryoko and Alphonse rushed out of the library and into the room. Edward had fallen off the bed and sat they're with an extremely angry look. In the spot he had been sleeping in sat Pico who flickered his tongue in acknowledgement "I woke up and the damn thing was laying on me!" Edward shouted pointing up at the bed. By now Ryoko was leaning against the door frame for support as she laughed, a few tears running down her face from laughing so hard, Alphonse was in much the same state. Edwards entire face turned red with embarrassment "ITS NOT FUNNY!".


End file.
